Vodafone: more Facebookness on the way

A few months ago we met the INQ Cloud Touch and Cloud Q, along with the HTC ChaCha and Salsa, all of which boast deeper Android-based Facebook integration. Earlier this week Vodafone introduced the 555 Blue, which also offers muchos Facebook goodness but in the form of a feature phone.

Vodafone tells TechRadar that the 555 Blue is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, with more Facebook-worshipping feature phones on the way. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for the 666 Red.

A Vodafone spokesperson says: "What we will do continue to use the experience as a category, the Facebook, as a vertical experience, and probably we will do a version two, version three etc.” That sentence confuses me for several reasons. I do like “the Facebook” as a category though.

"We are working already, could work on the same thing and extend it to a touchscreen. So we are working on and looking at various things [for future Facebook devices], such as touchscreens, 3G connectivity, nicer designs, better camera - now we have the core working, and hopefully it's a success, we will take it and develop it further."

With the Vodafone 555 Blue launching soon at around £70, it remains to be seen if consumers will be tempted. The Android-running Orange San Francisco, for example, comes in at just £20-30 more.